Italy · Roero

Azienda Agricola Nizza Silvano

Third-generation Roero estate at Ca' Boscarone in Santo Stefano Roero, producing Arneis in two expressions and Nebbiolo across three tiers from an 8-hectare family farm with roots to 1957.

The producer

Silvano Nizza runs Ca' Boscarone, a farmstead in the village of Santo Stefano Roero, as the third generation of his family to farm the same ground. His father Sandro and uncle Alfredo worked these 8 hectares from 1957, selling their wine in bulk the way most small Piedmontese farms did. Silvano kept the farming and changed what happened to the wine: in the early 2000s he began bottling under the family name and building a range with distinct tiers under the Roero DOCG.

The estate holds 2.30 hectares of Arneis and 0.50 hectares of Nebbiolo within the DOCG zone. The Arneis runs in two expressions, one fresh and stainless-steel fermented at volume, one structured and oak-aged in small quantities. The Nebbiolo follows a similar logic: an accessible village-level red aged 22 months in large cask, and a Riserva aged 32 months in smaller oak barrels, produced at around 1,400 bottles per year. Silvano has a local reputation as one of the Roero's more considered Nebbiolo producers.

Known for

Roero Arneis and Roero Nebbiolo DOCG

Notable facts

The story

From the Family Farm to the Family Label

Sandro Nizza and his brother Alfredo had been growing grapes at Ca' Boscarone since 1957. They made wine every year. They sold it in bulk. That was how it worked in the Roero: you farmed your land, you pressed your grapes, and the wine left the farm without a label on it. When Silvano took over the estate in the early 2000s, he decided the wine would not leave that way anymore. He bottled it. He printed a label with the family name. The farmstead that had supplied the local trade anonymously for more than four decades became a DOCG producer with a Riserva, a village-level red, and two expressions of Arneis. The 1957 date still appears on the estate materials, because Silvano does not separate what he inherited from what he built: the farming came first, and the bottles followed from it.

From the atlas

Azienda Agricola Nizza Silvano

At A Glance

The Producer

Silvano Nizza runs Ca' Boscarone, a farmstead in Santo Stefano Roero, as the third generation of his family to make wine from the same ground. His father Sandro and uncle Alfredo farmed the land from 1957. What Silvano did differently, in the early 2000s, was bottle the wine under the family name.

The estate holds 8 hectares in total. Of those, 2.80 are registered under the Roero DOCG: 2.30 hectares planted to Arneis and 0.50 to Nebbiolo. The majority of the range is white, built around Arneis, the grape that defines the appellation. The Nebbiolo block is small, but it carries the estate's most serious bottle.

Silvano's reputation in the Roero is for quiet, considered Nebbiolo. That character runs through the range: long oak regimes, measured production volumes, and a clear separation between the accessible and the reserved.

Place

The Roero DOCG sits on the right bank of the Tanaro river in Piedmont, across the water from the Langhe. The two banks share the Tanaro valley but not the soil. The Roero sits on sandier, lighter ground than the Barolo side; Nebbiolo ripens differently here, producing wines with softer tannin and a more woodland-forward character rather than the iron grip of a Barolo.

The appellation is built primarily around Arneis, the white grape that was revived in the Roero in the 1970s and now carries the DOCG name for white wines. Santo Stefano Roero, where Ca' Boscarone stands, is one of the villages within the Roero DOCG zone. The village name appears on Silvano's entry Nebbiolo label, a designation that anchors the wine to its specific commune rather than the broader regional appellation.

Soil And Site

The Ca' Boscarone farmstead sits within the sandy, calcareous soils typical of the Roero hillsides. The Roero's lighter geological character, compared to the clay-heavy Langhe across the Tanaro, gives Nebbiolo grown here a different profile: less weight in the tannin, more aromatic lift, and a tendency toward woodland and earthy notes over the dark fruit concentration that marks Barolo or Barbaresco. Arneis thrives in this same sandy ground, producing wines that are naturally fresh and fragrant without requiring intervention to lighten them.

Story

Sandro Nizza and his brother Alfredo began farming at Ca' Boscarone in 1957. For decades the estate operated as many small Piedmontese farms did at the time: grapes grown, wine made, wine sold in bulk to the local trade. There was no label, no Riserva.

When Silvano took on the estate, he kept the farming but changed what happened to the wine. He began bottling under the Nizza name and building a range with distinct tiers. The Roero DOCG designation formalised the estate's credentials. The Riserva Ca' Boscarone, aged nearly three years in oak before release, became the anchor. The 1957 date on the estate materials connects the current bottles back to the ground Sandro and Alfredo first worked.

Vineyards And Cellar

Of the estate's 8 hectares, 2.30 are planted to Arneis and 0.50 to Nebbiolo within the DOCG zone. The remaining hectares fall outside the DOCG boundaries and supply the Nebbiolo d'Alba DOC.

The cellar runs two approaches for each grape. Arneis goes either into stainless steel for four to ten months, preserving the grape's natural freshness and fruit, or into small oak with bâtonnage for twelve months, building a more textured, fuller white. Nebbiolo takes the longer route in both its DOCG expressions: the Roero del Comune spends 22 months in large oak casks before six months in bottle; the Riserva Ca' Boscarone spends 32 months in smaller oak barrels plus a further six months in bottle. The difference in vessel size matters: large casks soften without adding pronounced oak flavour; smaller barrels over 32 months give the Riserva more wood contact and a denser mid-palate. Nebbiolo d'Alba, from the broader Alba denomination, ages 12 months in oak, sitting between the two Roero reds in age and ambition.

Wines

The range divides cleanly by grape and tier.

Arneis, two expressions. Jemei Roero Arneis is the volume wine: stainless steel, fresh, aromatic, approximately 30,000 bottles per year. Il S. Stefano Roero Arneis is the opposite: small oak, bâtonnage, 12 months of ageing, approximately 2,000 bottles per year, with a rounder, creamier weight and more oak contact than the Jemei. Both come from the same 2.30-hectare Arneis block at Ca' Boscarone.

Nebbiolo, three tiers. Nebbiolo d'Alba DOC is the broadest red, drawn from vineyards outside the DOCG zone, aged 12 months in oak, and suited to the kind of table food the region does naturally: cured meats, aged cheese, braised antipasti. Roero del Comune di Santo Stefano Roero steps up: 22 months in large cask, six months bottle rest, around 4,000 bottles per year. Full-bodied, with slightly tannic character and woodland aromas, this is the entry point to estate-level Roero Nebbiolo. Roero Riserva Ca' Boscarone is the commitment wine: 32 months in oak barrels, six months in bottle, approximately 1,400 bottles per year. Denser and more concentrated, drawn from the same 0.50-hectare Nebbiolo block, held back long and produced in deliberately small volume.

In The Glass

The Arneis wines open with fresh, fragrant fruit, light on the palate and easy in acidity. Jemei stays in that register throughout: aromatic, clean, with a short finish. Il S. Stefano carries more weight on the palate from the oak contact and bâtonnage, a mild creaminess alongside the Arneis fruit, and a longer finish without losing the grape's natural freshness.

The Nebbiolo wines share a woodland character across the range. On the nose, earth and dried herbs come forward before any fruit. In the mouth, the body is full, the tannin present but measured, not aggressive. The Roero del Comune is the more immediately approachable of the two DOCG reds: the large cask oak gives softness rather than flavour, and the wine delivers the Roero character without the extraction or concentration of the Riserva. The Riserva Ca' Boscarone adds a denser mid-palate and a longer, slightly drier finish from the extended barrel regime. Both benefit from food; the Nebbiolo d'Alba, lighter in ageing commitment, is the most approachable of the three reds at the table.

A Bottle To Understand It

Roero del Comune di Santo Stefano Roero is the right first bottle. It is a village-labelled Roero Nebbiolo, aged 22 months in large oak casks plus six months in bottle, produced in around 4,000 bottles per year. The large cask ageing gives the wine a softness the Riserva does not have; the tannin is present but not demanding, the woodland character of Roero Nebbiolo is clear, and the body is full without being heavy. It explains what the Roero does with Nebbiolo and what this estate does with its oak without requiring the commitment, the wait, or the scarcity of the Riserva Ca' Boscarone.

Anecdote

Sandro Nizza and his brother Alfredo had been growing grapes at Ca' Boscarone since 1957. They made wine every year. They sold it in bulk. That was how it worked in the Roero: you farmed your land, you pressed your grapes, and the wine left the farm without a label on it. When Silvano took over the estate in the early 2000s, he decided the wine would not leave that way anymore. He bottled it. He printed a label with the family name. The farmstead that had supplied the local trade anonymously for more than four decades became a DOCG producer with a Riserva, a village-level red, and two expressions of Arneis. The 1957 date still appears on the estate materials, because Silvano does not separate what he inherited from what he built: the farming came first, and the bottles followed from it.

Final Word

Nizza Silvano is a small Roero estate with a clear logic: two grapes, two approaches each, a Riserva held back for nearly three years. Silvano Nizza did not reinvent what his father and uncle started at Ca' Boscarone in 1957. He formalised it, bottled it, and gave it a range with room for both everyday drinking and serious ageing. The Roero del Comune is where to start. The Riserva is where the estate takes its most considered position.

Sources

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